


In Moratorium

by sharpedo (Chex_Nix)



Series: Our Clamshells Land On The Shores Of Somewhere [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adventure, Aged-Up Character(s), Bonding, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abandonment, Childhood Trauma, Crushes, Cussing, Danger, Dimension Travel, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Fem!Tsuna, Flame Harmonization (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Friendship, Gen, I hope so at least, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Male-Female Friendship, Murder, Mystery, No Romance, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Reincarnation, Sawada Sumiko is big lesbian and doesn’t realize it, Self-Discovery, Team Bonding, Temporary Character Death, Tragedy, Trans Character, Trauma, Unconventional Uses for Dying Will Flames, Violence, Well - Freeform, Wilderness Survival, also Gaomon uses she/her pronouns because the boxing dog can be a girl if she wants, because digimon, because digimon and mukuro, because i felt like it and chrome is vastly outnumbered, but she’s also still baby so this is only relevant to her crushes at the moment, but what isnt, dimension hopping, fuck i forgot some tags, he’s eight now, implied trans character, in sumi and a couple others, its lambo, it’s usually mukuros fault, so he isn’t a toddler on an adventure, surviving in another dimension with a bunch of people you’re terrified of, they're like 11 right now and therefore baby so no romance, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-12 21:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21482827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chex_Nix/pseuds/sharpedo
Summary: Sawada Sumiko always figured she was destined for mediocrity at most.Fate had other plans.Now stuck in a world with seven other (mostly terrifying) kids and their strange (incredibly terrifying) animal companions, Sumi is out on an adventure of a lifetime. All trauma included. With leadership of this disaster of a group thrust upon her shoulders, and an entire world out to kill them, will Sumi ever get her newfound friends home?Or will the long-forgotten past repeat itself once more?(There’s a secret only this world knows, and it may end up meaning more to Sumi than she thinks.)
Relationships: Sawada Tsunayoshi & Vongola Tenth Generation Guardians
Series: Our Clamshells Land On The Shores Of Somewhere [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549447
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	1. The Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> It’s adventure time (almost).
> 
> Also fun fact, busu means ugly. Felt it was important to add that so you didn’t have to google it.

In some worlds it starts in a summer camp.

In others, a school.

Or on some street.

Or a park.

For Sawada Sumiko, it starts at home. Alone, after a long day at Namimori Elementary in which she was once again bullied for being  _ ‘Busu-Sumi’.  _ To say it didn’t bother her much would be both a truth and a lie; once upon a time, the nicknames and the insults had hurt something fierce. Nowadays, she just couldn’t find it in herself to care. So what if she was lame, or stupid, or ugly? Caring about it wouldn’t change a thing, wouldn’t change her. She had long since given up on such things. 

There was no fixing a useless waste of space like her. Even her mother agreed, even if she didn’t say it in so many words. She only needed a few.

_ “Oh, what a useless daughter I have,” _ She would say, cupping a hand to her cheek and giggling as if her daughters struggles were nothing more than her favorite morning cartoon. 

Sumi had long since accepted it. Long since accepted that her mother had no faith in her, that her father might as well not exist, that she was destined for nothing but cold sidewalks and her mother's basement. She had accepted that, and accepted the fact that nothing in the world could change the fact that she was Busu-Sumi, a girl with too-wild hair, a plain face, and no talents whatsoever. 

Or so she had thought.

For you see, on this day in which nothing of note seemed to happen, Sumi’s world was going to change forever.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Hiee, don’t do that Takeru-kun!” Sumi cried, “There has to be another way!”

Her fingers clutched tight around their purchase, the rustling of fabric spurned from her movement. She looked on in horror as Takeru marched towards his opponent, there was nothing she could do but watch. With vigor, Takeru made his way across the barren landscape, the glow emanating from his pockets growing stronger with each step. He stared the enemy in the eye, vengeful for his fallen compatriots, and then the monster moved. A cry was stuck in Sumi’s throat, but it would not help, it was already over.

Sumi turned the page. Nothing, only an advertisement for some other related manga and the next issue. She let out a small sob, there was no way she could afford it!

She heaved a sigh and flopped back onto her bedsheets, and here she was hoping that  _ Takeru the Demon Slayer  _ would get her mind off of things. Or at least give a better excuse to procrastinate her homework. Alas, it was not to be! Sumi bemoaned her fate, dramatically sinking into her covers. Her eyes flitted over to her backpack, then over to her closet which was filled to the brim with other manga, then back to her backpack, and then to the closet again. Well, maybe she had time for one more, it wasn’t like she’d actually get a good grade on her homework right? So why try?

With that encouraging thought, Sumi hopped up off her bed and beelined towards her closet. She settled down on her knees, careful to avoid falling face first into her clothes rack again, and began working through her pile.  _ SetsuCross? _ Nope.  _ Landers of the Northern Star?  _ Nada.  _ Six Weeks in Hell?  _ Hmm, maybe, a bit depressing for her current mood though.  _ The Red Spoon?  _ Nah, that one was boring, why did she even still have that? 

Sumi tossed book after book aside, not quite finding something she really wanted to read. They were all too depressing, or too boring, or something she had read so many times before that it was starting to get old.  _ Maybe this is a sign that I should get some new hobbies,  _ Sumi thought somewhat bitterly, still making her way through the book pile. The stack of tossed books grew larger behind her, Sumi’s frustration rising as her eligible pile fell. Until finally, finally she was out of manga. Not a single one was chosen.

“Gah!” Sumi cried, shooting to her feet, “Is there nothing to read in- _ h-hwah?! _ ”

As she rose, her eyes had crossed her windowsill, catching her off guard with what she had witnessed. So much so that she had fallen backwards and knocked her head against the floor before she could regain balance.  _ Ow,  _ she rubbed her head, still feeling bewildered and disbelieving of what she just saw. Slowly, she crawled towards the window and pulled herself up on the sil, eyes peeking over it in her attempt to make sure she wasn’t going mad. Nope, she blinked, it was still there. She rubbed her eyes, nothing changed. Her confusion grew, there was no was this was possible.

So impossible that she could not help but to verbalize just how impossible it was, “Wha? Why is it snowing in the middle of July?!”

Yes, in the great outdoors which had been unbearable hot that morning, were crisp little flakes of white making their way from the clouds. Upon the ground, mounds of snow were gathering despite the weather being clear a mere ten minutes ago. Sumi would know, she had taken a peek outside before the neighbors chihuahua had started barking at her, prompting a retreat. And yet, snowdrifts were gathering in the street, tiny mountains of crystals gathering in spite of the season. 

Sumi pushed her window open, then immediately slammed it shut again because  _ holy crap it was cold!  _ Seriously, it was forty-five degrees outside earlier, and now it was around negative fifteen! She may not know that much about the weather, but she was fairly certain that it wasn’t supposed to do complete one-eighties like that! 

As Sumi began to contemplate the possible destabilization of reality she was overcome by a sudden chill. Cold began to creep in through the window, which was impressive because those things had stayed insulated in the dead of Namimori’s most freezing winter to date. Which only made the weather’s sudden shift all the more confusing, how did it get so frigid so fast?! She began to shiver, the houses heating system fighting a fruitless battle against the soon-to-be-blizzard outside. She looked down at her pajama shorts and thin sky blue t-shirt, yeah, she definitely needed a change in wardrobe.

Tossing herself back into the closet, Sumi tore through her summer clothes at a frightening pace. Unfortunately for her, her winter wardrobe was still packed away in the anomalous closet that only seemed to exist when her mother was looking for it. A mother who was very much not present at the moment. Darn it. Sumi shivers again, a bit stronger this time as her tragically standard body temperature allied with the frost demon plaguing her hometown. She strategically chose to compromise and gather the warmest clothes available to her at the moment, she’d ask Kaasan to get her winter clothes later if the summer snowstorm kept it up.

She grabbed her oversized orange hoodie, the one with thick sleeves and her lucky number twenty-seven embroidered on the back and it’s left breast. Then scrambled for her drawers for her a pair of her baggier socks and her tights, specifically the insulating ones with white stripes down the sides. Tights that Sumi would swear were magic for just how warm they kept her and her possible reptile blood. Seriously, when she got cold, she got  _ cold.  _ Curse you possible lizard-father!

She shook her head, casting thoughts of her father dubious origins aside, and grabbed some socks to complete her ensemble and got dressed as fast as she possibly could. Thankfully, she only fell over once while putting on her leggings, she put them on backwards in her first attempt, and it wasn’t on her head this time so she’d consider the endeavor a victory.  _ Now if only I was that lucky all the time,  _ she thought ruefully, digits tracing over her knees as she outlined the familiar scars won from tumbling on the sidewalk one time too many. 

Another shiver roused herself from her melancholy, was it really so cold outside that even her magic tights couldn’t help?! The frigid air began to sink its teeth into her once more, so she quickly dashed into the hall, tripping over her feet for just a moment before reaching the thermostat. She quickly fiddled with the knob, but to no avail. A brief memory of her accidentally spilling juice on it a week earlier raced into her mind, crap. A chill rushed through her once more, and Sumi could swear frost was beginning to gather on the  _ inner  _ window. Yeah, no, if she stayed in this house one minute longer she would become a Sumi-sicle!

A list of public places came up in her mind; Namimori Public Library, Kyoko-chan’s families gym, an arcade, a few restaurants, the mall, and a couple other places she couldn’t remember the name of at the moment. She would have added the nearby convenience store, but Sumi knew full and well that the heating there hadn’t worked after Hibari-senpai smashed the generator last year. The closest warm place was probably the mall, it was only on the next street over, and hopefully it would have decent enough heating to fight off the impromptu winter. 

Decision made, Sumi ran back into her room and grabbed her backpack and a thick blanket to keep her warm outside. She contemplated bringing one of her manga with her but decided she’d rather not go through that whole fiasco for a second time today. Instead, she tread carefully down the stairs and gathered as many snacks as she could in case she had to spend the night. From what Sumi could see through the kitchen window, the snow mounds had grown taller and began to block traffic. Soon even foot travel would be impossible so she decided to hurry, lest she freeze to death in her own home.

She throws the blanket over her wild head of hair and wraps herself up so tightly she began to look, ironically, like a spring roll. With a vast hoard of warmth beneath her makeshift cloak and her backpack on her back, she threw the door open. Then immediately closed it as the chill hit her, creeping through her socks. Shoes, she couldn’t forget her shoes. She waddled over to the shoe rack and grabbed her red-orange sneakers with her blanket-flipper hands, and then put them on with much struggle. It wasn’t exactly easy to tie sneakers with her hands entrapped in their soft blue prison, but she had managed to tie them into some semi-functional knots.

Satisfied with her-  _ shoddy-  _ work, she tightened her cocoon again and opened the door once more. A cold breeze smacked her in the face, almost knocking her over. Sumi shuddered, teeth chattering, and marched into the cold. She eyed the stairs of her house warily, there were few of them, but they had been thoroughly frosted over. This was a tripping hazard if Sumi had ever seen one. She gulped and gripped the pillar as tight as she could, accidentally foregoing the safety of her blanket in the process. Her fingers stuck to the ice-cold pole like glue, and yet she seemed not to notice. Maybe it was the instinctive terror at the sight of stairs, maybe it was due to all of her extremities going numb. Or both, probably both.

Still, it was either go down the stairs or freeze. Sumi debated for a moment before deciding that at least the stairs would be a quick demise. With cautious steps, she made her way down the staircase, still clutching the pillar like a lifeline. Step, ste-  _ slip,  _ no wait, she caught herself. With a deep breath, she braves the last step and lands on the equally as dangerous walkway. A cold chill runs down Sumi’s back,  _ there is no pillar in the walkway. _ She once again considers her options, before deciding that all that will do is give her more anxiety. She pries her frozen fingers off the pillar and begins tiptoeing her way to the front gate. Then realized that she would probably spend the next twenty minutes in her yard if she didn’t hurry. So she darted, fell on her face, and then got back up again with only a mild bruise to the cheek. Say what you will about Sumi, but one thing she isn’t is baby-skinned.

Finally free of her household, Sumi began making her way down the sidewalk. At a much carefuller pace of course, but still faster than her tiptoe. As she jogged down she watched as children playing in their yards began to get shuffled back inside by their parents, as street goers poured themselves into cars and buildings, as stores began to close down. The snow had piled up against door frames and roads, keeping those in cars from moving with the steadily increasing traffic. Sumi could already see Namimori Elementary Disciplinary Committee members herding people through traffic and across sidewalks, obviously to decrease the crowding their terrifying teenage boss so abhorred.

With the grace of someone long used to avoiding people with varying levels of success, Sumi ducked into the trees besides her. There was a shortcut through the forest. Somewhere. Or so she heard anyway. Yeah, she was probably going to get lost, but all Sumi could think of was avoiding the ever dreaded Disciplinary Committee.  _ What if they took me to Hibari-senpai?!  _ She panicked, too caught up in her fear to realize that the chances of her doing something Hibari-worthy at the moment were significantly lower than her chances of winning the lottery.

Both of which are somewhat unfair comparisons due to Sumi’s legendary bad luck, but the point was made.

So now Sumi was in a forest full of trees not prepared in the slightest for snow. Swathes of white power weighed down the branches and covered the skyline, leaving her in the dark.  _ Maybe she should have just risked Hibari-senpai,  _ she thought, staring out into the pitch black forest and feeling it stare back,  _ better the evil I know than the evil I don’t. _ Rationalizing done, she turned around to head back outside into the light and found that she could not see her entryway. She drew her blanket tighter and whimpered.  _ How was that possible?  _ She wondered _ , I just walked in here! _

She stood there for a moment in shock before a low rumbling echoed from further in the woods. She jumped, mind filling with possible monsters, and started to put on foot in front of the other. If she walked straight ahead she would eventually find the place she came in at, right? Right? Right. With as much bravery and self-preservation she could muster, Sumi marched on, cringing with every crunch her steps made.

_ Thump!  _ The sound of something solid dropping into packed snow echoed from ahead, far more heavy than any nut or fruit which could grow on the trees. It had landed directly in front of her, filling Sumi with dread. Was that hail? Was she going to get taken out by hail?! She ducked instincually, but nothing else fell. She blinked, confused that Mother Nature hadn’t taken this opportunity to scorn her once again. How very out of character for her.

And then there was light.

A bright orange light to be exact, like a lantern if the lantern was fueled by neon. It was obnoxiously bright and blaring on and off, emanating from the road ahead. A knife in the darkness, cutting through, providing no illumination to its surroundings. There was only orange, and the low wail of technology trying and failing to function.

_ Aliens,  _ Sumi concluded,  _ aliens have invaded and changed the weather, it all makes sense now.  _

Her flight urge began to act up again, but something about the light was hypnotic. It called her in like the doorway of her house, or the smell of her mother's cooking. It was warm and familiar, like an old friend she had not seen in years. A low burn settled in her chest, and yet it did not hurt. She took a step back and her feet felt cold, she took a step forward and the warmth returned. She wanted to run and yet, it compelled her. It felt like home.

Sumi wanted to go home.

Caught between fear and comfort, she walked forward, if only to sate her curiosity. She felt awfully like the blonde girl in one of those American horror movies, the kind she had tried to watch  _ once  _ before realizing her terrible, terrible mistake. This was where the aliens got her, she just knew it, they would lure her in with this mind controlling machine and she would never be seen again. She’d get abducted out here in the woods and then die and her mother would never know. Sumi tried to console herself with the fact that at least this meant she wouldn’t die in a ditch one day if she died now. It was a small comfort.

The origin of the light came into her line of sight. Whatever it was coming from had landed in a snow mound with great force. It had burrowed straight through the surface, leaving nothing but a hexagonal hole in its wake. From that hole was the beam of light which had felt so familiar, a brilliant sunset on a cold evening. Sumi approached tentatively, still unnerved by the prospect of aliens, but slightly bewildered by their small size. Were they pocket aliens? Or it could be a homing beacon. A homing would make so much more sense than tiny aliens actually, _ gosh Sumi, where’s your common sense? _

With every step she drew closer, the light grew brighter, as if sensing her. By the time she had reached the mound the light was blinding, literally, Sumi had been forced to shield her eyes with a blanket sleeve. She kneeled down and started sifting through snow with her free hand until her hand landed on something solid. It was some kind of metal object, strangely warm despite the lack of melted snow. She picked it up and examined it, flipping it to cover the glowing side. it felt as if it had a square screen and a few bumps which were probably buttons. The outer covering was light blue with a couple of darker blue additions, and, as the entryhole implied, was hexagonal in shape. It vibrated in her palm, whirring with an unknown purpose. Maybe it was broken? It wouldn’t explain the bright light but maybe that busted too. With any luck, the device would be useless to possible alien invaders. 

After a long moment looking it over and trying to decipher its function, Sumi realized the snow beneath her knees had melted. Her tights were soggy with slush and water, bringing a chill to her skin. Sumi shot up at the sudden cold, nearly dropping the device in her hands. She quickly readjusted her grip, only to find she had set it up on the wrong side. She made to cover her eyes, but had forgotten to cover the device again, causing her to suffer through another blast of orange to the eyes.

“ _ Ow!”  _ She cried, finally learning her lesson and flipping her hands around to rub at her eyelids.

Alas, the light had left her temporarily blinded, and so she stumbled backwards into a nearby tree and disturbed the hill of snow resting upon its leaves. It could easily be guessed what happened next. With a great rumble and a crash, the entire pile of snow was dumped on Sumi’s head. Overtaking her with a mountain of powder and knocking her out cold.

And then she fell.

Down.

Dow

n.

Do

w

n.

D

o

w

n.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Elsewhere, a child living on the street of a suddenly stormy city was walking by the waterways. Only to be overtaken by a freak wave from the nearby riverside and dragged under.

Elsewhere, a boy undergoing his daily exercise, even in the extreme cold of a sunless blizzard, was driven past by a speeding car which left nothing but kicked-up snow in its wake.

Elsewhere, a kid had just been kicked out of his home and given an impossible task. He wandered over to a nearby bridge to sulk, where he was then startled by a sudden bolt of lightning and into the inky depths below.

Elsewhere, a boy had been walking home from baseball practice when he was caught in the sudden rain of snow. In his rush to get home he collided with a piece of railing that was weak. It collapsed and dropped him into the pile of frozen slush gathering beneath.

Elsewhere, a boy who was once a man in some other life had wandered out into the garden of his current hosts to plot when the heavy rains had come in, leaving the garden so misty you couldn’t see the moment he disappeared.

Elsewhere, a girl, who had but one companion in her pet cat, wandered out onto the street to find her lone compatriot. Coincidentally, she left the very moment the icy mists of the neighboring cities weather settled in, completely subsuming her in fog.

Elsewhere, a boy patrolled his city, incredibly annoyed and suspicious of the impromptu blizzard clouding overhead and the mess it had caused. He had been handling a herd of herbivores who were causing a scene on the newly frozen lake when the ice had shattered, dropping him into the freezing waters underneath.

Elsewhere, a girl was torn from her world entirely.

Elsewhere, seven children experienced the same.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

And then she was in a dream, or perhaps it was reality, or perhaps it was some strange mix of both. That would be a question Sumi would never answer, as all she knew was that she was forever-falling downwards, skydiving without a parachute nor a thing to land on. A kaleidoscope of colors passed her by, red, blue, purple, green, yellow, a blurred palette of figures falling in unison. Her only companions in a world squished into a tunnel. The world had twisted and turned like an angry serpent ready to strike, and then there was an opening. A great white horizon opened from the air, a gaping maw of ether reaching out to take a bite.

Sumi was terrified.

_ Sumi was more alive than she had ever been. _

The maw swallowed them whole.

_ Elsewhere, in some other world, eight children fell from the sky. _


	2. We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sumi gets probably-abducted by aliens and makes new acquaintances.
> 
> Or just really weird tagalongs.

“Thuuumiko,” A high pitched voice lisped through the darkness, “Thuuuuuumikoooooo!”

As the voice called out to her, Sumi felt herself slowly grasp her way to consciousness. Brain already pushing her strange dream to the back of her thoughts. No, it was far too early to be awake at the moment, so instead of answering whoever was calling her, she grabbed the edges of her blanket and wrapped them around her tighter. 

“Ackth!” The voice choked out, “Thumiko, quit it!”

It was then that Sumi noticed something wiggling around inside her blanket, and that she didn’t recognize that voice at all. Sumi blinked her eyes open. She was in a forest. A forest with blue and purple trees. She was laying on the ground in a forest of teal and purple trees, and there was something squirming in the arms.

“ _ HIIEEEEEE!!!!!!!” _

Sumi tossed her blanket and jumped a- surprisingly literal- foot in the air. Followed by her landing flat on her butt,  _ ow,  _ she’s probably going to need a new tailbone. She rubbed at her back, forgetting her dilemma for a brief moment until movement caught her eye. Her blanket was shaking like a wet dog, a round figure trapped in the middle by thick orange fabric. The more it shook and rolled the more entrapped it became, eventually forcing it to surrender. 

“Hey, uh,” The same high pitched voice began to speak uneasily, “Could you give a mon’ a little help here?”

Sumi blinked. 

“Pleathe?” The voice pleaded.

Sumi blinked again.

“Uhm, you thill there?” The voice questioned.

Sumi shuffled back to grab an oddly teal branch, her only defense seeing as her bag somehow ended up on the other side of the blanket. Obtaining her weapon, she crawled forward cautiously, as if whatever was stuck in her blanket could bite her through the cloth. It wasn’t too much of a stretch seeing as it was obviously not human and yet somehow  _ talking to her!  _ Maybe the snow knocked her brain out of order and now she was hallucinating. Yeah, that was it! Probably. Hopefully.

The possibly-fictitious blanket wiggled again, “Uhm, Thumiko? Hello?”

_ Oh god _ , it knew her name!

No,  _ no _ , it was all in her head, she just had to remember that. 

The blanket wiggled again. Sumi nearly tossed her stick right at it. Okay, she might be panicking just a bit. But, only a little bit! Really! Her heart was beating at a  _ moderately fast pace _ , thank you very much! To prove as much, she continued slinking forward like some sort of person-shaped bug, coming close enough to be almost face-to-face with her rondure adversary. She brandished her stick, prepared to use it, and thrust it into the figure.

_ Poke.  _

Gently, of course.

“H-huh?” The figure startled like a round cat, “What wath that?!”

Sumi poked it again, self-preservation mechanisms obviously down at the moment.

“O-oi, whoever that ith you thtop that!” The blanket puffs up, but still doesn’t sound that intimidating.

Her eyes narrowed and she poked once more. 

“Alright, that’th it!” The creature blustered, ferocious wiggling starting up once more, “Get over here buthter! Jutht who do you think you’re dealing with?!”

Sumi scuttled back, escaping the range of the blankets rapid convulsing. The orange fabric tossed and turned, kicking up the- surprisingly normal- dirt around it like an angry dust storm. Sumi had to fight off the urge to sneeze, lest she alert the angry blanket-ball of her presence. The voice kept hissing and spitting, rolling around in an attempt to free itself of its plush prison, until it had finally managed to throw it off and reveal the creature.

It was.

It was  _ cute. _

Well, as cute as a frilled cat head with a tail can be. With the blanket no longer weighing it down, the frill sprung up, a bright yellow against brown fur. It’s golden-brown eyes were absurdly large, like some sort of anime character, and fixed into a glare which could only be described as cartoonish. Sumi couldn’t help but think that it was a bit uncanny valley. She silently ticked off another box in the  _ ‘hypothermia induced hallucination and/or fever dream’ _ corner. Or aliens, the alien theory was still totally valid.

“Now who did tha- Thumiko?!” The strange beings eyes bugged out of its head- body?- thing? Whatever. It looked shocked, like she was some sort of mythical creature walking up to it and giving it her blessing. Blissfully unaware of the irony of its thought process. Then the creatures eyes began to water, and faster than the human eye could see, it darted into her chest and began to bawl, “Th-th-thumikooooooo! You’re here! You’re really here!”

Sumi felt more bewildered than she had thought possible from her new bed of dirt. Which,  _ ow,  _ weren’t you not supposed to feel pain during dreams? Or was that a myth? Or was she actually abducted by aliens?! That would explain the trees, but, but,  _ Sumi didn’t want to be abducted!  _ No, wait,  _ calm, calm Sumi,  _ always save the worst option for last. That way the anxiety doesn’t get her first. She lifted her head with a flat look on her face, not quite comprehending what was going on. The creature was still crying into her hoodie. Yep, she still has no idea what’s going on.

“Uhm?” Sumi scrambled for a proper response to the situation, emotions skeeting right past terror and into a calm acceptance of the bizarre, “Are you...alright?”

It lifted its head-body, enough tears in it's oddly large eyes to fill a glass or two, and sniffed, “Uh huh, I’m fantathtic!”

Sumi felt immense doubt, “It doesn’t look like it.”

“Well,  _ duh _ ,” came a watery snip as it rolled over dramatically, “I am being  _ overcome _ with _ emotion!” _

_ You’re overcome with something alright,  _ thought Sumi’s rather vicious hind-brain, as she sputtered for a polite response. Fever dream or not, Nana didn’t raise her to be rude, “Well, that’s...nice?”

“Yeah it ith!” The cat-thing nodded agreeably, tears rapidly drying up from just about everywhere but her jacket, “Really! I’ve been waiting for you for tho long!”

Hmm, curious, “How long?”

“Yearth and yearth!’

_ Oh wow, am I so desperate that I made up this lonely little creature?  _ Sumi wondered at the blatant cheer in its statement. His? His statement? Maybe? Don’t boy lions have manes? Wait, does a weird frill thing count as a mane? She would think so, but dream logic is weird. Like that one dream she had about the pineapples and the skylarks...yeah,  _ weird _ . She gave an uneasy grin, not sure what to say, “That’s a long time, isn’t it?”

“You thure athk a lot of quethtionth,” He(?) stated plainly, “Aren’t you thupposed to know about all thith already?”

“Know what?” Sumi asked, finally pushing herself halfway off the ground.  _ Was she supposed to have an instruction manual or something? _

“About me of courthe!” He exclaimed, like that was supposed to be something obvious, “Thoudn’t the Hoodth have told you?”

“The who?”

“You’ve never met them?!”

“I don’t think so?”

“Wow, no one ever told you anything did they?” 

_ Story of my life,  _ Sumi’s traitorous hind-brain thought again, she summarily ignored it, “Not really, no.”

The creatures face scrunched up, as if in deep thought, before springing up with a- mildly intimidating- toothy grin, “Okay then, let your friend Frimon tell you all about it!”

“Friend? Frimon?” He had lost her again. 

“Uh huh, I’m your friend, and I’m a Frimon aren’t I?” _Oh, _she thought, a warm feeling welling in her gut, _I guess_ _that makes sense. That was his name, and- wait._

“ _ A _ Frimon?” As in there were more?

“Yeah, that’th me!” He nodded, oblivious to the true nature of her question, “Now  _ thhhhh _ , it’th thtory time!”

Her internal panic booted up halfway, she didn’t exactly want the strange cat-monster-thing with the  _ sharp teeth  _ mad at her. She felt that little pit of anxiety in her stomach completely subsume her good vibes, “A-alright!”

He nodded(?), ”Well you thee, it all thtarted when I wath hatched… and… huh, I can’t remember.”

“Seriously?!” She blurted out incredulously, then smacked her hand over her mouth because  _ oh crap she just backtalked a monster! _

Frimon bristled, “Hey! Do  _ you _ remember when you were hatched?!”

“N-no?” She stuttered out, unsure of how to explain to the small possibly-but-hopefully-not-alien that humans didn’t hatch from anything.

“Ekthactly!” Frimon harrumphed, “You thouldn’t have double thtandards! Bethideth, I remember the motht important part!”

“You do?” She raised a nervous eyebrow.

“Yeah!” He bounced, giving Sumi whiplash over the complete one-eighty from his previous mood, “I remember you! The Hoodth told me to wait for you so I did!”

“They what,” Her mind blue screened. That...sounded pretty stalkerish, was she dreaming about being stalked by some sort of cult? Or maybe the alien theory had more gravitas than she first thought.  _ Oh god _ , she’s totally been abducted by alien stalkers hasn’t she?!

“They told me to wait, so I waited and waited and you finally showed up!” He cheered, once again non-sequitur with just how sad and lonely he sounded, “I don’t know what we're supposed to do no- hey, what's  _ that? _ ”

His little round body wiggled around to face the direction of her bag. Alarmed by Frimon’s sudden distraction, Sumi’s head shot around to see what caught his attention. From where her bag was strewn out upon the dirt was a familiar glowing orange light. It was caught underneath her bag, but it was hardly muffled, flashing brilliantly against the place where the bag met the ground. The low buzzing noise returned, along with the unfamiliar warmth that Sumi hadn’t realized was missing. Her eyes shifted over to Frimon with wide eyes. Kind of like one of those videos with the cats and the laser pointers.

Wait.

Frimon dashed, or well, _ slithered _ towards her bag at a frightening speed. Who knew something without limbs could go that fast? Not Sumi, that’s for sure. Then again, aliens probably have some sort of super speed magic that she, a mere human, could never possibly hope to achieve. Unless she was Hibari. But his status as human was debatable at best.

She watched, dumbfounded, as he began to dig under her bag. Before realizing that, hey,  _ maybe she should keep the strange alien cat from getting in her stuff.  _ Sumi scrambled over, kicking up dust in her face before managing to get up. She pounced on her bag, nearly squishing Frimon in the process. She lifted it with sudden force, nearly tossing it into the air. Then she fell. With the bag on her face. Ow.

With much panicked flailing, Sumi pushed the bag to the side and sat up. The bag spilled over with a thump, a number of packaged foodstuffs and fruits falling out. Bag no longer obstructing Frimon’s target, he leaped onto the glowing device with all the fervor of a predator catching its prey. His eyes were wide and shiny as he began to tussle and roll around with the strange machine, seemingly unaffected by its vibrant blaring. It reminded her of a puppy-  _ ugh, shudder-  _ with a new toy. If the puppy was a cat-snake.

She watched on, unsure of what to do in this exact situation. Was she supposed to get the alien device from him? Ditch and run?! There wasn’t exactly a manual for this kind of thing! She was stuck in a loop of confusion and zero survival instincts, which was typical of her but she felt she could cut herself a little slack considering the situation. Sorta. Okay, maybe she should have run while she had the chance, but where was she supposed to go?! She was stuck in a weird forest, possibly on another planet! How was she supposed to get home?! 

_ Oh god,  _ she thought as the situation finally settled into her mind,  _ How was she supposed to get home?! _

She was stuck  _ on another planet.  _

What was she supposed to tell her mom?! Was she ever even going to see her mom again?!  _ Oh god, oh god, oh god! _

Sumi’s was now in full-blown panic mode, hands unconsciously digging into her scalp as her mind tunneled all its senses into entertaining thoughts of being eaten by an alien monster or starving from lack of food. All without her mother ever knowing.  _ Oh god, oh god, oh god,  _ she felt her eyes begin to well up. She wasn’t ever going to get home was she? She was going to die on another planet. Alone. Just like everyone said she wou-

Something warm brushed against her leg.

She looked down.

Frimon was nudging against her leg, buzzing device curled in his tail. He looked up at her with his giant eyes with a solemn look on his face. His mood couldn’t be further from his earlier playfulness, it was an odd look for such a cartoonish face. It was somewhat hard to tell with his animalistic features, but he looked… worried? He nudged at her again, making sure he caught her attention.

“Thumiko?” He timidly prompted, “Are you okay?”

Sumi sniffed,  _ how come this tiny little creature cared more to ask than her own mother?  _ The dark part of her whispered, but all she said aloud was, “Y-yeah.”

“Really?” His brows furrowed in some quiet determination.

Sumi nodded, refusing to wipe at her eyes, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

Frimon blinked, “Do you want a thquoosh?”

Now it was Sumi’s turn to blink, “A what?”

“A thquoosh!” That determined look returned, “Like thith!”

Then he bounced.

He bounced  _ high _ .

Right onto her shoulders.

And then he squished into her neck and began to purr.

_ Oh. _

That, that did kind of make her feel better actually. She’s still incredibly confused and upset, but she’s also being purred on. By a cat alien. Hm. Hmm.

Sumi sniffed again.

_ Why did this funky little creature have to be so cute?! _

“Ack!” Frimon suddenly froze, “Wait, your thupposed to thtop crying! Why Ithn’t it working?!”

Sumi couldn’t help but snort, “N-no, I’m fine really. I just...thought to something...silly.”

His panicked ceased, “Thilly? What’th thilly?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sumi was quick to placate. It would be too embarrassing to admit the truth. Even for her.  _ But seriously, cats, why are cats so cute?! _

Okay, so she may have been overreacting a bit over his sheer adorableness. It was distracting. She’d rather think about cats than  _ never going home and- _

No. Nope. Cats. Think about cats. Strange alien-noodle-cats. But still. Cats. 

“I  _ told you _ I heard someone over here!” A new voice hissed from behind her.

Sumi turned around.

There was a small yellow and purple cat head standing- sitting?- at her heels with a smug grin, like it just caught a particularly annoying canary.

Perhaps she thought about cats a little too hard.

Another voice came from the forest, grumbling something that she couldn’t understand before it suddenly cut off.

In a flash, a figure ran at her in a blur. Suddenly, her face was being held in place by two hands, green eyes were all she could see as whoever this was completely disregarded the rules of personal space. She was feeling confused. Very confused. And a bit embarrassed, the tears on her cheeks hadn’t quite dried up yet. Whoever this was didn’t seem to care though, they just glared at her like a puzzle they couldn't figure out.

The person barked something in question.

“Uhhh,” was Sumi’s rather eloquent and well thought out answer. 

Thankfully, Frimon was her saving grace. He began to bristle from where he tensed up against her neck, “Hey, back up buthter! I don’t know who you think you are bu-”

And then he was snatched.

Ah, well, she knew thee well Frimon.

Sumi still felt bewildered as the person- human?!- grabbed Frimon and twirled around with a disturbing gleam in their eyes. Now that they were not frighteningly close to her face, Sumi could see their silver hair and jean jacket with a red shirt underneath and a raggedy looking blue backpack. They were pretty. Very pretty. Like, prettier than Kyoko-chan pretty, which was weird because Sumi was pretty sure this person was a boy. Could boys be pretty? Her classmates didn’t think so, but then again Hibari-senpai was pretty too, and no one went against him. No one that survived anyway, again,  _ shudder. _

She looked on as the person flipped and spun Frimon around with enthusiastic muttering she couldn't understand. Frimon looked rather overwhelmed. Sumi could relate. Still, she should probably try to rescue him, right? He did try and comfort her after all. Cautiously, she tried to get the other human’s attention, “Uhm, hey, uh, excuse me?”

It was not very effective.

“Excuse me?” Sumi tried again, a little louder.

Still no response. From him anyway, the other small cat alien rolled their eyes and hopped over to the person. Then they bit his leg with their sharp teeth,  _ ouch.  _ The boy jumped, startled from his attempts to uncurl the device, which was now glowing a softer shade of orange, from Frimon’s tail. He scowled, and growled something in another language.

The cat-alien did not seem deterred by the language barrier. Wait. how did Frimon even know Japanese? Was there a translator or- no, not important right now. The cat-alien scowled right back at the human, “Don’t you yell at me! It’s not my fault your sorry self sucks at paying attention to its surroundings, and stop being a creep and put Frimon down you weirdo!”

The boy just clutched Frimon closer like some living stuffed animal and yelled back.

“I  _ MEAN _ ,” The little yellow creature yowled with surprising ferocity, “That your ears clearly aren’t working! That human’s been trying to get your attention, but I guess your heads too stuck in your butt to listen!”

Somehow, the boy managed to glare more. And then he looked at her. He was scowling at her.  _ Oh no. _

He growled at her in what she could only assume was a “ _ what do you want?! “  _ Or maybe a  _ “back off!”  _

“Uhm,” Sumi struggled for something to say, an anxious sweat trailed down her back, “I don’t know what you’re saying?”

The boys nose scrunched, as if in thought. Angry, angry thought. Before he asked, “Japanese?”

“Uhm, yeah,” Sumi nodded with vigor, glad that she wasn’t going to have to start acting out her words like they did in the movies. 

“ _ Why the fuck? _ ” He muttered, making Sumi blush at the language. He was like her age! Where did he even learn words like that?! He shook his head and bit out, “ _ Whatever _ , what the hell are you doing here?”

“I...don’t know?” She shrugged nervously, was she supposed to know something? Was this abduction invitation only?

The boy gave a gruff sigh, “Well, it was worth a try.”

“Uhm,” Sumi treaded carefully, “Do...you know how you got here?”

“Not a damn clue,” He huffed, making Sumi flinch just a teensy bit. He looked back down at the thoroughly disoriented Frimon, his eyes seemed to sparkle, “But maybe…”

He began muttering in another language again, seemingly attempting to dissect Frimon with a look. Or several looks really. He began to flip Frimon around like a pancake, the cat-thing in question a bit too at a loss to fully comprehend what was going on. At least until the boy made for the device still curled in his tail, then Frimon was like a fish on a hook.

Frimon flopped around in his grip until he managed to wiggle free with a yowl of, “Hey, don’t touch that!”

The boy snapped out of his haze and looked shocked, before, well, before kowtowing at Frimon?! 

What.

Just.

_ What. _

Sumi blinked, but no, the formerly aggressive kid was kneeling down and loudly proclaiming what she could only assume were apologies to Frimon. She shared a look with the little lion creature, at least he was as confused as she was.

Then, seemingly tired of being ignored, the yellow cat thing bit the boy on the ankle. Again. Seriously, that has  _ got _ to hurt. The only other human got up from the ground and shot it a dirty look, but it interrupted him before he could say anything with an agitated, “Don’t you realize you’re being rude! You haven’t even introduced yourself, honestly, do you know what manners are?!”

“I know them better than you, apparently!” The boy sneered, before facing Sumi and giving a, let’s say less than enthusiastic, introduction, “ _ Tch _ , name’s Fa-  _ Gokudera _ Hayato. Don’t forget it.”

She strategically chose to ignore his slip up and introduce herself in turn, “It’s Sawada Sumiko, but uhm, everyone calls me Sumi.”

Well, technically they called her a little more than that but Sumi was part of it so it wasn’t a lie.

“ _ Hmph,  _ I’m Frimon,” He frumped from his landing place on the dirt. Apparently he had snapped out of his shock and was now somewhat annoyed. Or a lot annoyed. He was some level of annoyed.

Apparently the other alien didn’t care though, because it- she? maybe?- barreled right over his annoyance with a sly, “You can call me Nyaromon.”

“It’s nice to meet you?” Sumi tried to give a welcoming smile but fell short by just a bit. Thankfully, her current company didn’t seem to care. 

“Yeah sure, you too,” Gokudera-kun waved her off in favor of staring at Frimon more, he began muttering again,  _ “So far they all seemed feline in nature. They don’t have limbs or torsos. Some sort of serpent-feline species? Are they cold blooded? Do they…” _

And thus Sumi lost her only human company to la la land.

“Hey,” Something nudged at her leg, she looked down to see Nyaromon staring up at her, “Don’t mind him, Hayato can be a bit of an oddball sometimes, but he means well. He just doesn’t have enough social skills to show it. Or any social skills at all, really.”

“Ah, okay?” Sumi agreed, thinking about her own lack of social skills and how they didn’t make her quite so... _ distracting.  _

“Yup, he’s completely oblivious to everything,” Nyaromon nodded, unaware of the irony, “ _ Honestly _ , he’s been in his own little world since he got here. I think he tried to eat a leaf in the name of scientific discovery on his way here, and don’t even get me started on the tangent he went on when he first saw  _ me.  _ Which, to be fair, I am pretty amazing, but it’s the principle of the thing, you know? I’m surprised he hasn’t woken up Kuwagamon with all that shouting of his.”

Man, she really liked to talk didn’t she?

Wait a second, “Kuwagamon?”

“Oh yeah,” She began in a rather placid tone, “Real nasty fella, likes to prey on In-Trainings cause’ their easy targets. Not me though, I’m way to stealthy for him to ever catch. He usually naps nearby, gets startled pretty easy too, not that Hayato cares. I tried to warn him but  _ nooooo,  _ filling your pockets with dirt is way more important than survival apparently.”

“S-survival,” Sumi’s mind blanked. Sure, she was stuck on an alien planet, but stuck on an alien planet of  _ killer monsters that wanted to eat her  _ was an entirely different rodeo. The back of her t-shirt was probably soaked through at this point. She felt the  _ hieeee  _ approaching at a rapid rate. 

“Uh huh,” Nyaromon was unfazed by her blank terror, or maybe just not bothered enough to notice, “It takes some guts to make it here on Byte Island, yes siree, not that that’s a problem for me. Now, Pinamon on the other paw,  _ oh boy,  _ he’s nice and all, but he couldn’t find his way out of his own feathers without help. It’s amazing that he’s made it this long, but then again he did have help. Strength in numbers and all that, not that I need it, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t give my support to the masses. Not a very good one that’s who, yup, just stick by me and…”

Sumi began phasing out of reality around that point, or maybe she was just too terrified to comprehend anything at the moment. Either way, Nyaromon was lost to white noise, Sumi stared blankly at the surroundings. Not even the sight of Gokudera-kun running around like a madman broke her facade. She was nothing but terror at the moment, sheer, unadulterated terror. 

“...And- are you even listening?!”” Nyaromon snapped.

Sumi startled out of her terror, “O-oh, yeah I was listening.”

“Good!” She harrumphed, “I don’t share my wisdom with everyone you know!”

“I’m, uh, honored?” Sumi was still too perplexed to scrounge up a proper response. 

“You should be! I am a veritable wealth of information!”

“Good for you?” She wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but alright.

“ _ Hmph,  _ good for me?! It’s not just good, it’s great! It-”

_ Rustle, rustle-  _

The clearing froze. Even Nyaromon, for all of her bluster, had stuck still like ice. The sound of shaking leaves came closer and closer with each second, and all Sumi could think of was the Kuwagamon that had been mentioned earlier. 

_ Rustle- _

It grew closer.

_ Rustle _ -

Closer.

_ Rustle- _

A shadow loomed in the darkness.

Something stepped out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man this took forever to write. Hopefully the next chapter goes faster, but I hold low hopes. 
> 
> Testing week approaches at a rapid pace and I am but mortal.
> 
> Also please join the KHR discord if you’re interested I beg of you. More writers for the writing throne.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yo check out my Tumblr! 
> 
> https://chex-nixxed.tumblr.com/
> 
> And the KHR fanfic writers Discord if you’re interested!
> 
> https://discord.gg/MJEhkJb


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